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Train up a child while becoming a godly parent.
This blog is about Training up a Child. You can also grow as a parent while growing godly children. Proverbs 22: 6 tells us "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. "It tells us to train a child....and when he gets old"...Hey Proverbs what about the in between years? I believe that's when God trains up a parent. Face it these kids don't come with instructions, or do they? Yes we have a manual, it is God's Word. You must read it and apply it for it to work. I mean apply it to your own life and example it for your children. Deuteronomy 6:6–7 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. There is no way to teach your children what they should do if you are not doing it yourself and doing it because it is who you are. This scripture shall be on your heart. That means, shall be who you are and what you firmly believe. You can't fool them, they watch your every move, as they should.
Don't avoid the hard subjects. Pray about the hard topics of the day and ask God to lead you in His timing and wisdom through these conversations. God's timing will open a door for discussion about todays hot topics. Teach them what God's Word the Bible says about these issues. If the Bible calls them sin then be sure they understand why and the consequences of them. Don't allow the world to teach them to your children.
Time, it takes time. You must take time to train up a child. Spend time with your child. Not just minutes but teaching minutes. Minutes with meaning, minutes with purpose, direction, instruction, encouragement, affirmation and above all love. Take time to teach God's Word to them. I have found the most effective way is through doing short bible readings dailey before school even as they are getting ready. The younger they are the shorter it should be. Proverbs is a great start. I look for one to start with and hopefully it has commentary at the bottom so I can read that as well. We may or may not discuss it. I ask what do you think? Then I ask what can I pray for you about? I always pray for their protection, to have Christ like character, wisdom, discernment, a sensitive ear to the Holy Spirit and most of all that God's will be done in their lives. Then I tell them they are champions, I am proud of them, be a good example and that I love them and God loves them. They never get tired of hearing you say they are champions and that you love them. All with excitement because I want them to be encouraged. The the next day we do it again. It can take as little as 5 to 10 minutes. The older they get the more time you might take. Now we have started a night time bible study as well. It is a little more intentional. The important thing is to get started. It gets easier the more you do it. I even text our bible time to my daughter who is in college. She loves getting them. I need to be a little more consistent there.
Spend time hanging out with them. We will go on trips to games, concerts, big cities, bike rides and more. My son plays drums so he and I play together at home and events. We do life together. All of us, mom, sisters as much as we can. We see each others ups and downs. I try to teach through mine and theirs. I especially try and teach through my mistakes. We must train up our children in Christ. The way I see it, This world will never stop luring them in a direction away from Christ so for the short time we have them we must teach them about our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ and His way. The world has already started, have you?
Proverbs 15: 20 says, A wise son brings joy to his father,
For our dad, son and daughter devotion.
First day of school. Starting the year off with proverbs 19:2
It is not good to have zeal without knowledge nor to be hasty and miss the way.
The best time of my day is spending a few minutes to read scripture and pray with my son before he heads off to school. Dads I strongly encourage you to do this. Awkward at first but what an awesome and blessed routine it becomes. I promise you child will love you for it.
